You're the Pulse in My Veins
by lyssgarv
Summary: She has one more chance to break through that wall; to break through to the Sasuke she knows is still there. During a strange mission, Sakura finds herself in a dangerous place and there's only one darkness she'll allow to save her. This is the hidden story of Sakura's journey with Sasuke during his road for redemption. Rated Mature for later content.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It had been a simple mission to find the team and offer medical assistance as the message had requested. How hard could it be? Just outside the Land of Fire, she was outside the protection of the Leaf Village but in this time of peace? Who would hurt her? Her lack of guard was what had ruined the whole thing. She supposed the villages were at peace but that didn't mean those living outside the villages agreed to such peace. There were still rogue ninjas and many of them didn't see this as a time of peace.

Kakashi had given her the assignment earlier that morning, explaining that a team had been dispatched to get information on a group of rogues forming against smaller villages and to report back but, instead of reporting back, they'd requested the assistance of a medical ninja. Kakashi, not knowing what had become of the team, felt it only appropriate to send her when, not only did she have the stamina to perform medical treatment on three ninja, but she also had the battle experience to handle any situation thrown at her, if the need should arise. She was to tell no one she was leaving and would have forty eight hours to report back to him.

It was an easy mission that she readily accepted. Any chance she would have to help others and stretch her legs, she'd eagerly take. Since the end of the Ninja War, she'd grown restless being stuck in the village. Not that she wasn't happy for the peace and her friend's happiness as they moved on with their lives, she just felt as though something in her life was missing. A very dark and brooding something. Since he left her at the gates of the village to take his redemption journey, Sakura hadn't seen, or heard, a hair of Sasuke and it bothered her. How was she supposed to know if he was still alive or not? When she asked Naruto, he only smiled at her and told her not to worry about him so much. He could handle himself. Why was he so relaxed at the thought of Sasuke? Shouldn't he be more worried about his best friend jumping off the deep end again? Of course, Naruto now had Hinata to pass his days and what did she have? Her endless worry.

She'd promised Kakashi of her success and took no time in leaving the village. She could already feel the burdens of the village falling from her shoulders and a smile crossing her face. It felt so good to be out and about again, to be doing ninja work. Not only that, this was her chance to see if she could track any whereabouts down of Sasuke. Work first, then pleasure.

She'd reached the team's last known location and found no one in sight. In fact, the clearing beside the river was barely disturbed. There was no way a battle had happened here. She boosted herself up into a tree to see further up and down the river to see if maybe the team had just sent the wrong location but the riverbanks were deserted.

She jumped back down from the tree and that's when she noticed it; a ninja cat was sitting unnaturally still across the river and it's bright yellow eyes were watching her every move. She hesitated a moment then came to the conclusion that perhaps one of the team knew how to summon and it was simply waiting for her to take them to the team.

As soon as she was across the river, the cat turned and disappeared into the undergrowth and Sakura followed it. The further she pushed into the forest, the more her heart raced and the quicker her feet moved. The cat was skilled and quick. She caught a glimpse of it every now and then through the trees and, once, it even checked over it's shoulder to make sure she was following it.

She jumped down into a small clearly where the cat had been sitting for her but now that she was here, the cat had disappeared and the forest had grown increasingly silent. The hair on the back of her arms and neck stood up and she pulled a kunai from her pouch, now fully aware that something wasn't right. From around her, figures materialized out from behind surrounding trees, their masks marking them as Anbu. No, that was impossible. The villages were at peace!

She didn't remember much more after that. She didn't put up much of a fight. These were members of her village, possible classmates and she wasn't going to hurt them. Whatever was going on here, there was no way it was their fault.

At least, that's what she told herself.

She didn't know where she was but she did know that she'd been spared, whether intentionally or not. Her eyes opened slowly and the first thing she noticed was a flickering candle light. She attempted to sit up but a fierce pain shot through her back and chest and she groaned, laying back down again. As a medical ninja, it didn't take her long to figure out she had a few broken ribs and possible internal bleeding. She took a slow breath to steady her rising panic. She was trained in medical ninjitsu. She just needed to relax and heal herself. Panicking now would only slow the process. She closed her eyes, accessing that extra pool of chakra and brought it to the surface, using her own chakra to heal herself. She felt the pain lessen until it was no more and she felt it easier to breath. Finally, she sat up to take in her surroundings and was… confused.

She appeared to be underground, the walls of the room artfully carved out, roots hanging from the ceiling and the heavy damp smell of earth. She shivered from the chill and turned towards the candle. It was sitting in the center of a wooden box set against the opposite wall. It was nearly halfway burnt down and Sakura could assume she'd been here for a few hours. A wooden door that didn't quite fit in the hole dug for it was on the same wall and only darkness seeped under the door from beyond. Where ever she was, she was well hidden away.

She pulled back the blanket from the cot she was on and stood up. She was no longer dressed in her usual green mission attire and instead, donned a black t shirt and simply pants. Her pouch with her ninja gear was propped against the wooden box on the floor and her ripped and bloodied clothes sat beside it. Who would bother to take the time with her?

"Pretty stupid for not fighting back."

The voice made her jump out of her skin and she turned towards the door to see it had opened and Karin stood leaning against the doorframe, a hard look on her face.

"Karin!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise. "You saved me?" Her heart sped up and she felt a tingling throughout her entire body. If Karin was here…

Karin snorted, turning her head away. "As if I would bother. No, the "gallant knight" Sasuke felt the need to save you. And before you ask, no, I'm not traveling with him. He sent for me in case you didn't wake to heal yourself. Never thought he'd care so much for one person."

There was an awkward silence between them but Sakura could scarcely breath. _Sasuke._ He was here. He had saved her.

She wasted no time. "Where is he?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "No idea. He told me where this place was and had me bring you here and keep an eye on you till you woke up." She straightened up, uncrossing her arms, shooting her a glare. "And you're awake so I'm out of here. I can see you're more than capable of taking care of yourself."

Karin turned to disappear into the darkness behind the door but Sakura took a step forward.

"Wait!"

Karin paused, looking over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised.

"Thanks…" Sakura whispered, a smile crossing her face.

Karin remained silent a moment before, "Don't thank me. I didn't do anything." And with that, she was gone.

She stood motionless in the center of the room for a moment as she attempted to rein in control of her tangled mind. Sasuke! After all this time, she finally found him! Well, he found her… and he saved her. Her heart beat painfully against her chest, as though it wanted free to search for Sasuke itself. Should she wait here and see if he returned? Should she leave and search for him? He could be anywhere… The better part of her judgement told her she needed to return to the Leaf Village and inform Kakashi of what had happened, or not happened, to the Team but her whole mind was taken up by Sasuke and she wasn't leaving until she saw him.

Making up her mind, she grabbed her pouch, blew out the candle and headed out the same door Karin had. The smell of being underground was the same outside the room and she could only discern that she was in a tunnel. She reached a hand out, feeling along the wall as she walked, making sure to keep herself from getting lost. After a few moments, there was a light at the end of the tunnel and, as she got closer, realized that it was a small break in the side of a cliff face that led right out to a river. The wind whipped at her clothes as she stood outside the entrance, the moon high above her casting a silver light around her. So far, she'd spent nearly twenty four hours outside of the Leaf Village and she had one more day till she was expected to return. That should be long enough to find Sasuke. After all, she just wanted to make sure he was alright… right?

She lifted her head, her hair caught up the wind as her eyes traveled up along the side of the cliff and around her. She was in a ravine, the massive walls rising up and hiding her from the outside world. Only the moon and stars looked down on her. She smiled. Only Sasuke would find a place like this where he felt secluded… and safe.

She turned and lowered her head, only to freeze, one hand lifted to hold her hair out of her face as her eyes fixated on the figure before her. With only the light of the moon, he appeared as nothing more than a shadow made solid. His cloak snapped around his ankles, almost cocooning him from the wind behind him and his black hair framed a face she'd gone to bed every night remembering. Everything about him was the same and yet, he still managed to take her breath away. He was standing before her, a mere yard apart and his eyes, that had hardly had the time to look upon her before, were now completely focused on her face. They stood like this, frozen in time except for the force of the wind whipping around them before a single tear fell from Sakura's eyes.

"Sasuke…" she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

He tried to take her back. And she gave the best argument of her life; he wanted to redeem himself? Find out what the Anbu were doing attacking her. She could hardly believed it worked.

The fire snapped, a sound too loud in the silent forest but Sakura didn't care. Sitting across from her and the fire, Sasuke was writing on a tiny scroll, the hawk waiting patiently on his shoulder. So he had been keeping in contact with the Leaf Village. Probably only to Kakashi but, somehow, the idea soothed her. Naruto had managed to save Sasuke and he was keeping the village at the foremost of his mind. Now, he was writing Kakashi to tell him not to worry, that Sakura was with him and they were going to figure out what had happened to the team. And then, after that, he'd take her home.

She had agreed but it hadn't felt truthful. Could she go back after this? She'd merely agreed to keep from being dragged back to the Leaf Village but she didn't know how this was all going to pan out.

He finished up his scroll and attached it to the bird's leg before it fluttered off, disappearing into the night on silent wings. "I told Kakashi what happened when I found you so he knows you haven't abandoned your mission."

She felt her heart squeeze and a faint smile crossed her face. He knew just how much this mission meant to her and was willing to help her out, even if she knew his loyalties were to the leaf village instead of her. "Thanks, Sasuke." she murmured.

He didn't reply. Instead, he stood up, the flame's light flickering across his face. He pulled his cloak from around his shoulders, revealing his katana strapped to his back. The lack of his left arm caused a pang of sorrow through her but if she didn't know Sasuke, she would have never suspected he didn't have it. "Get some sleep. I'll keep watch. We leave before dawn."

And, in moments, he was gone, not even a stirring of air that he'd been there. She sighed and adjusted her bedroll, knowing full well she wasn't going to sleep thinking he might not come back.

As soon as he was gone, the night creatures began to stir once more, as though they had been terrified to make a noise with him around and she frowned. He had been gone from the village for awhile now but it seemed, he still had a lot of redeeming to do. The night creatures didn't even want to test him. She thought back to the day that he left, the feeling of his finger on her forehead still evident and she reached up to touch the spot tenderly. Maybe next time. He had told her. The gesture itself had told her just how much he cared for her. If she helped him find redemption, would he let her travel with him?

The only way she would know was if she finished this mission and to finish the mission, she needed to sleep.

She hadn't even realized she'd fallen asleep until she was being roughly shaken awake. When she opened her eyes, Sasuke slammed a hand over her mouth and shook his head for her to be silent. She nodded and he lifted his hand, standing up and giving her room to get up. Dawn was nearly upon them, the fire burned low to ashes and were still smoldering. Sasuke was picking up his cloak and tossed her one, as well as a mask. An Anbu mask.

Sasuke was already pulling on his own and she hurried to follow suit before following after him into the trees. He had no idea where he was going or what was happening but she trusted him. She was proud of herself at being able to keep up with him. All those years she spent standing behind Naruto and Sasuke and now, she was matching him pace for pace, able to read which way he was heading by his body language alone.

All of a sudden, they were forced to stop as two Anbu appeared in the branches before them.

"Did you find them?" the one asked Sasuke.

"No, but I saw smoke over that way. Maybe they stopped to rest."

The other two nodded and took off in the direction Sasuke noted.

Sasuke turned to Sakura. "I need to get you somewhere safe so I can go after them, find out what their motive is."

She immediately bristled with anger, pulling her mask up so she could properly glare at him. "Sasuke Uchiha, I fought alongside you in the war, I trained under Tsunade and I'm not about to be cuddled now, especially by you! I'm coming with you!"

With his face covered by the mask, she couldn't read his expression but she seemed to have convinced him as he turned to follow the other two.

"Don't lag behind."

Sakura beamed with triumph as she slid her mask back over her face and followed him.

The two Anbu managed to find their campsite and they were quietly conversing with each other by the smoldering fire. They knelt in the branches, hidden by the shadow of the tree. She was behind Sasuke and when she leaned forward to listen to what they were saying, she found herself gently leaning against Sasuke's back, her mind momentarily taken away from the mission.

He was so warm. For someone so cold on the outside, he was surprisingly warm and it was comforting. She wanted to lay against his back and take a nap but Sasuke shifting beneath her brought her jarringly back to the present and she focused her attention on the two Anbu.

"-other seven haven't returned either. The ones that were meant to initially ambush her. No doubt she's got someone with her now."

The other nodded, bending down and lightly touching the smoldering embers. "This wasn't been lit since last night. No doubt they've moved on from here. We need to get her back before she crosses the border back into the Land of Fire or Shin will have our heads."

They took off, back the way Sakura assumed the Leaf Village to be. Sasuke remained still for a while, the red of his Sharingan shining brightly behind the mask. She felt a gentle warmth in her veins at the idea that Sasuke had taken out all seven of her attackers just to save her but she kept the thought to herself. Bringing it up now would be pointless.

Finally, he seemed to relax. "They're far enough away now." he told her, dropping down from the branch.

She followed, frowning; the Anbu's conversation burning questions in her mind. "Clearly they aren't the Anbu." she said thoughtfully. "But what do they want with me? And who is Shin?"

Sasuke finally removed his mask, a frown on his face, his eye back to its normal black. "I don't know. Have you done anything lately to piss anyone off?"

Sakura huffed. "This is the first time I've left the village since the war. Haven't met many people since then, either."

He gave her a sidelong look but didn't comment.

They made it back to the cave she had woken up in by high noon and they retreated into the cool darkness. Sasuke lit the candle that was still sitting on the wooden box and Sakura sat down on the edge of the cot, her thoughts far away from their little room.

"I don't understand what they want from me. And why are they posing as Anbu? Were they going to try and get me from the Leaf Village? That could mean the Anbu is compromised and everyone could be in danger."

Sasuke snorted and Sakura blinked at him in surprise. "With Naruto in the village, no one is danger. They were probably hoping you'd do exactly what you did and not fight back. Problem is, I interfered before they could take you away."

She pulled her knees up against her chest, resting her chin on top as she frowned. Someone was going far out of their way to get her… but why?

"I think we should find them and follow them. Find out who this Shin person is."

Sasuke turned to look at her and, for the first time in years, he offered her a smile and she felt her heart flutter. "I thought you'd never ask."

Just wanted to set this here and let all the readers know that I do not read the manga. I watched the entire Anime. I'm basically going with some facts and making my own story. If some things are wrong, I apologize.


End file.
